COVID-19 and the mental health of children from ethnic minority backgrounds in the UK

Dr Jacqueline Phillips Owen is a member of the RSM Psychiatry Council and Chair of the steering group for this conference and webinar series. She is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist in South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM). She is also a member of the Academic Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, King’s College London, and editor of the mental health e-learning platform, MindEd. She has an academic background (a PhD from University College London) and her research explores the impact of neurodevelopmental disorders in low-income countries, and digital innovations for improving children and young people’s mental health in schools and colleges. She also has research interests in methods to support young people with mental illness to make important decisions about their futures.  She is a school governor in Lewisham and this role gave her insight into how schools can struggle to obtain appropriate help and advice to support the wellbeing and education of children with mental health difficulties. With this in mind, Jacqueline has put together this series of conferences "Transforming Mental Health in Schools and Colleges" at the Royal Society of Medicine in an effort bring health and education professionals together and spur on public engagement and debate.

Dr Nidhita Singh is an ST6 in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She graduated from University College London Medical School and holds an intercalated BSc in International Health. She was involved in organising the Royal Society of Medicine series “Transforming Mental Health in Schools and Colleges" beginning in 2019. She previously led Maudsley’s Reading the Mind non-fiction book club and is the founder of Between the Lines, a podcast series interviewing psychiatrists on the book that changed them.

Dr Andrea Barry is a Senior Analyst, leading analysis for JRF’s work outcome group. She plays a key role in providing and disseminating evidence and analytical work related to JRF’s outcomes. Specifically, she’s involved in providing analysis and evidence for JRF to help more people find a route out poverty through work. In July 2020, she gave evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee on the unequal impact of the pandemic on black and ethnic minority communities. Before this, Andrea was an Economist at Transport for the North, and completed her postdoctoral research with the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester. She has finished an MSc in Economic and Social Policy Analysis and a PhD in Economics at the University of York.

David is author/editor of 13 books and more than 200 articles, chapters and reports. He has won the Society for Educational Studies’ prize for ‘Book of the Year’ twice and is currently finishing a new book, ‘White Lies: racism in education and society’. David is best known for his research on racism in educational policy and practice and, in particular, for championing the growth of Critical Race Theory internationally. David received the Derrick Bell Legacy Award, from the Critical Race Studies in Education Association (CRSEA), for career accomplishments that demonstrate ‘personal courage and professional commitment to supporting and advocating race equality in education,’ and was named to the Laureate Chapter of the Kappa Delta Pi honour society, which is limited to 60 living educators who have made a significant and lasting impact on the profession of education. David edits the international journal ‘Race Ethnicity and Education’, which he founded in 1998. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Much of David’s writing is available for free download at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David_Gillborn/publications

Laverne Antrobus is a consultant child and educational psychologist with over 25 years experience. Having trained at the Tavistock Clinic Laverne works with children who present with complex social, emotional, behavioural and psychiatric difficulties in one of the Tavistock’s specialist multi-disciplinary teams supporting children who are struggling with conditions such as autism, ADHD and depression. Prior to becoming a psychologist, Laverne was a primary school teacher, as a psychologist she has worked in local authorities in London supporting teachers to manage children’s learning and behaviour in the classroom. Laverne appears on popular daytime broadcasts and is often asked to give a psychological perspective on issues that affect children and their families in both radio and print media. She has made programmes on childhood for the BBC and appears on the CBeebies Grownups website and iWonder website. Laverne has appeared on Violent Child, Desperate Parents, Secret Lives of Five Year Olds, Little and Teen Angels and House of Tiny Tearaways. Laverne wrote a number of chapters for the book, “Help your Kids with Growing Up’ which was published in July 2017 by Dorling Kindersley. Laverne’s chapters focus on dealing with conflict, including parent-teen relationships, family upheaval, and peer pressure.​

Dr Chris Papadopoulos is a Principal Lecturer In Public Health And Director Of Health Research at the University of Bedfordshire. He teaches a range of health post-graduate health courses in particular the MSc Public Health course. Chris is research active in a range of health-related areas within the social sciences particularly stigma, autism, mental health, health technology and social robotics. He is a contributor to The Spectator where he comments on Covid-19 policy, he is the founder and lead of the London Autism Group Charity, and a parent to two autistic children.

Richard Addy is Co-founder and Director of the international audience strategy consultancy AKAS (Addy Kassova Audience Strategy Ltd) which focuses on audience and impact strategies in relation to democracy, new media, race & gender equity, climate, social justice and cohesion, international co-operation, and children's wellbeing   Richard has over 25 years’ experience working as a strategist and Government economist, advising CEOs, C-suite executives, Government ministers, multilateral organisation executives, and charity and foundation leaders. He recently served as a Mind Trustee for over nine years and now brings a lot of professional and personal expertise into his role as Chair of Mind’s Race Equality Advisory Board. Speaking of his new role, Richard recently shared: "Mind’s vision is a society where everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets support and respect. To deliver this vision we must become an anti-racist organisation that meets the needs of people from different ethnic minority groups who are currently being underserved. It is a critical task and one Mind is committed to fully through the deep hard work of listening, learning and acting.’’

Bobbiella Andoh is a youth outreach worker - mental health specialist at Oasis Youth Support. She works within the accident and emergency department of a London hospital providing support to young people presenting for violence related incidents. During her time at Howard University, she developed a passion for making a difference in the lives of young people through improving their mental health. Following the completion of her degree, she returned to the United Kingdom where she earned her Master of Science in Child Psychology at Kingston University to further develop her skills in pursuit of her goal of working with youth in communities similar to where she grew up in London. Her expertise is in the area of racial identity and its effects on mental health and wellbeing, particularly for minority youth. Recognizing the importance of racial identity in the mental health of youth, Bobbiella has developed a series of workshops around important Black history in the United Kingdom. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bobbiella continued her work educating youth and bridging the gap to accessing mental health support through her contributions to a monthly newsletter that provides young people with important information on the toll of lockdown, the impact of the pandemic on mental wellbeing, exercises for managing stress, and local resources to access more immediate support. Bobbiella has weekly one to one meetings and co-leads wellbeing workshops for youth groups. She hopes to improve the lives of young people, through hearing, seeing, and valuing their identity and mental health.

Jordan Gayle is a Youth Service manager responsible for the planning, delivery and evaluation of youth provisions for Oasis Hub in Waterloo. Jordan has a background in sports and has often designed sports and healthy lifestyle-based programmes which have presented opportunities to build a rapport with young people.

As a youth worker, Jordan saw first-hand how young people can thrive if they were afforded a wide range of opportunities. Thus, helping young people to have the mindset to grasp opportunities is key and informs the way Jordan designs and delivers youth programmes.

Tolu Ladejobi is the Assistant Headteacher at Prendergast Ladywell School, a fully comprehensive through school, located in the borough of Lewisham. At Prendergast Ladywell School we believe that our ethos is underpinned by the relationships that the members of our community have with each other. These relationships are built on the foundation of compassion, equity, and mutual respect so that every member of our community feels safe, has a sense of belonging and are free to develop into the best versions of themselves. It is this ethos that directs Tolu’s moral purpose when serving his community. In his current role, he leads the access and inclusion provision at the school, ensuring that the school’s most vulnerable students achieve good outcomes in-spite of their disadvantages. During his time in his current role, school attendance has improved and school exclusions, as well as the use of external provisions have fallen significantly. As the designated safeguarding lead in his school, Tolu has years of experience working with a variety of agencies whose purpose is to ensure good outcomes for societies most vulnerable children and young people, including CAMHS, Local Authority Special Educational Needs and Disabilities teams and Children’s social services. Now leading the anti-racism working party at Prendergast Ladywell School, Tolu now educates his fellow educators on the link between the trauma of racism and poor educational outcomes, as well as what individual teachers and schools can do to create culture where individuals who have experienced racial trauma are able to flourish.

A mother of four teenagers and young adults, who have ADHD and ASD diagnoses (two with a dual diagnosis), Maggie is also the Director of ARCS – a charity set up by parents to support families and young people in Lambeth affected by ADHD and other neurological conditions.  ARCS works with the clinicians and practitioners who make up the Lambeth ADHD Strategy Group, ensuring that the voices of young people and families are represented and heard.  With the strategy group, ARCS provides training and resources for Lambeth schools, youth and family services and the Metropolitan Police.  ARCS has recently been commissioned by Lambeth to develop a schools' pathway for neuro-diverse young people transitioning to secondary school.  A qualified Social Worker with a first degree in psychology, a masters in addictive behaviours, and a post graduate qualification in Autism and Education, Maggie has extensive third sector and social care and health and early intervention experience.  She also has many years of youth and community outreach experience. She has published research into drug-related early Intervention and developing services for young people and families (SCODA).

A member of several SEND and Mental Health Strategic Working groups in Lambeth, Maggie is also an associate school governor, a trustee of a community led housing project, and a longstanding member of the Lambeth ADHD Parent Support Group